Disney has announced a release date in April 2014, but what else can we predict about Cap's return to the big screen?
By Kevin Sullivan

Chris Evans in "Captain America: The First Avenger"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

Captain America might be only getting ready to strap on his shield for "The Avengers," but Disney has already announced definite plans for his next solo adventure.

In a press release on Thursday (April 5), Disney set the debut of "Captain America 2" for April 4, 2014 and gave a brief explanation of where the story will take us. "The second installment will pick-up where the highly anticipated 'Marvel's The Avengers' (May 4, 2012) leaves off, as Steve Rogers continues his affiliation with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world."

The news comes hot off talk of a short list for director candidates, so we've broken down everything we know so far about the "Captain America" sequel.

The Setting
The plot information confirms two items for the Marvel Universe. First, the film will definitely have a contemporary setting, an issue that there's been some back-and-forth on since the release of "Captain America: The First Avenger" last year.

Splash Page spoke with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the writers of "The First Avenger," a year ago about their plans for the sequel, which they are onboard to pen as well. The writing team saw the flash forward to the modern era at the end of the original film as an opportunity to explore two different settings, leaving 40s Cap a possibility through flashback.

"It's sort of a weirdly huge opportunity for storytelling in that you know modern Cap through 'The Avengers' at that point, and just by the nature of what we were talking about before, there's going to be a lot of his World War II history we haven't shown," Markus said. "We're going to have two entire timelines to play with."

Nick Fury
We're also sure that Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury will almost definitely survive "The Avengers." Director Joss Whedon is notorious for killing characters, so with Fury removed from the list, the candidates for a possible early demise is whittled down.

The Director
We're still a long way from seeing a second "Captain America" movie, the 2014 release date aside. With director Joe Johnston not returning, the production is currently seeking a director to lead Cap back into the fray, and a report last week from Vulture singled out Anthony and Joseph Russo from "Community" fame as candidates on Marvel's short list of contenders.

The Release Date
While the specific date of April 4 is news, the year 2014 had been batted around for a while. Chris Evans spoke with the Playlist back in September about the effective spacing for the planned Marvel movies. "They may wait until 2014 until they release the next Cap," Evans said. "Marvel has a lot of balls in the air, they aren't going to cannibalize their films."

Check out everything we've got on "The Avengers."

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